Director Rian Johnson has revealed the final shot in his Oscar-nominated murder mystery/whodunnit Knives Out was a bit of a “happy accident” during filming.
In a recent interview on the Empire podcast, Johnson broke down the final sequence of the film and how he wanted to seal the film with a scene featuring a shot of a “goofy modern joke mug.” Warning! There are spoilers ahead if you haven’t seen Knives Out yet.!
“It’s funny that was—it wasn’t an accident, but it was kind of an accident. A happy accident. I knew I wanted her to like sip tea in the final shot, and I had had separately the idea of ‘My house, my rules, my coffee,’ as that first shot in the movie—after that first big dramatic shot of the house, breaking the tension with kind of a goofy modern joke mug. And I was like, ‘Oh she can have that at the end!’ Then when we were doing that close-up, she was up in the balcony and I yelled up, ‘Sip the tea!’ and she brought it into frame and those words came up and I was just like, ‘Oh that’s pretty nice.’”
The final shot truly was a perfect bow on top of a wonderfully constructed murder mystery and even secured Johnson an Oscar-nomination for Best Original Screenplay.
After Knives Out grossed over $250 million at the worldwide box office and was met with highly positive reviews, Johnson revealed he was currently working on a follow-up which is set to centre on Daniel Craig’s Benoit Blanc on a new investigation.
Acclaimed writer and director Rian Johnson (Brick, Looper, The Last Jedi) pays tribute to mystery mastermind Agatha Christie in KNIVES OUT, a fun, modern-day murder mystery where everyone is a suspect. When renowned crime novelist Harlan Thrombey (Christopher Plummer) is found dead at his estate just after his 85th birthday, the inquisitive and debonair Detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) is mysteriously enlisted to investigate. From Harlan’s dysfunctional family to his devoted staff, Blanc sifts through a web of red herrings and self-serving lies to uncover the truth behind Harlan’s untimely death. With an all-star ensemble cast including Chris Evans, Ana De Armas, Jamie Lee Curtis, Don Johnson, Michael Shannon, Toni Collette, LaKeith Stanfield, Katherine Langford and Jaeden Martell, KNIVES OUT is a witty and stylish whodunit guaranteed to keep audiences guessing until the very end.
